Alumni Newsletter SPRING 2012 Kappa Alpha PI
Alumni Newsletter SPRING 2012 Kappa Alpha PI Alumni Newsletter SPRING 2012 Kappa Alpha PI
A SORORITY GIRL IN A FRATERNITY WORLD BY: Taylor Cross | UPSILON Pledge Class Walking to Monday meeting, Shelby casually asked, “Oh yeah, did you want to go to that pre-law thing tomorrow night?”. I accepted the offer, imagining a presentation made by one or two people in a lecture hall. Star- OOPS ing at m y closet the next evening, I tried to picture a business casual outfit. Images of Carie Bradshaw came to mind: cute heals, a skirt, and some sort of blazer. Accordingly I put on my six-inch nude pumps, cream pencil skirt, burnt orange button-up, and grey blazer. Showing up to rush, I quickly realized that it was not going to be anything like I had imagined. Here I was thinking I would be able to sit anonymously in the back of a presentation. The realization that I would be standing in my shoes for three hours hurt my soul, as well as the soles of my feet. However, the speeddating style of rush entertained me so much that I did not even think about my feet. These people were so diverse and accomplished that they made me feel mundane and unprepared for life. They were who I wanted, and needed, to be. Freshman year was fun, but I needed to get my life aimed in the right direction: law school. My work and class schedule forced me to sign up for the very first interview slot, Thursday at 9 am. Again channeling my inner Carie, I selected the same heals to wear to the interview. This time paired with high-waisted dress pants, a colorful striped blouse, and a navy blue cardigan. We were instructed to bring three copies of our resume, but being the overachiever that I am, I brought four. I was proud to slide one copy to each of my interviewers; my resume was sunflower-scented with my name and the headers printed in eye-catching coral ink. It gave it something extra, don’t you think? Needless to say, I have now realized the error(s) of my ways. Carie Bradshaw’s wardrobe is the farthest thing from professional. A resume like Elle Woods’ will not gain you admittance to a prestigious law school or give you credibility with employers. My most important accessories have become my pledge pin and binder. People who used to be fifteen strangers have become my brothers. This process has taught me so much about professionalism, brotherhood, and philanthropy; it has also taught me about myself. Retreat cemented Kappa Alpha Pi in my memory as an experience that can never be repeated, substituted, or forgotten. Though we did not know each other very well at the time, I believe that the Upsilons elected individuals to the positions which suit each person’s unique personality and skillset very well. I had the honor of being elected President of my pledge class, and it has truly been one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had. The Upsilons have earned the reputation of being a pledge class which is prone to injury/illness. Simply beginning at retreat, we were all slightly infected with a cold. For the social event held that following Thursday, one of our Social Chairs broke her elbow the day before. Carie and Talea (our social chairs) were able to coordinate an amazingly fun ice cream social, complete with original games, despite the injury. Somehow we managed to make it to our next event, Professional Night, without another brother finding themselves in harm’s way. Kaite and Hector (our Professional Chairs) hosted a professional night which was expertly executed, coordinated down to the last cup of water. Our next big extravaganza as a pledge class was the Mock Trial. As I have never participated in anything remotely similar to a mock trial, it intimidated me beyond belief. Luckily, three of my Upsilon pledge brothers have been actively involved in mock trial since high school. Phil and Katie were both cast as attorneys for the defense, while Shezaf was cast as an at- torney for the prosecution (these three being those with previous mock trial experience). As Phil stated, “it [didn’t] matter that we’re on opposing sides we [had] to help each other out.” And we did just that; as a pledge class we dedicated countless collective hours preparing both sides of the case. In the end, the verdict was inconsequential. We all learned to value each other’s strengths and help our pledge brothers improve in their areas of weakness. Throughout the entire pledging process, we have had multiple brothers have to call in sick for individual events or workshops. But one single brother has proven her strength and dedication to the “OH YEAH, DID YOU WANT TO GO TO THAT PRE-LAW THING TOMORROW NIGHT?” UPSILONS....AND THEIR SHENANIGANS UPSILON PROFESSIONAL EVENT: “WHAT CAN I DO WITH A LAW DEGREE?” 3 4 process above all others. Ashley had to be rushed to the hospital before our last Mock Trial workshop and has not been physically capable of returning since. However, this has not halted or even slowed her participation in our pledge class. As one of the fundraising chairs, she and Shezaf have worked tirelessly to ensure that we not only meet our fundraising goal, but exceed it. I am proud to call such strong and dedicated individuals my brothers. Our Brotherhood Chair, Joey, said it best: “Our pledge class is like a machine. If you take out just one of the parts it won’t work right anymore.” We have persevered through illness and injury. We have hosted professional and social events. We have interviewed countless actives and aced the hardest of tests. We have sported mint-green t-shirts and modeled professional attire. We have even tried one of our own for murder. Through the pledging process we have formed a bond closer than friendship: brotherhood.
Brotherhood Right to Bear Arms BY: Juan Hernandez | RHO Pledge Class Angelina Jolie, Alicia Keys, Michelle Rodriguez, Kate Beckinsale, and Mila Kunis; what do all these women have in common besides being beautiful actresses? They look even hotter when they are firing a gun! So if we use reason, guns are good for appearances, but also, they are good for brotherhood! On April 19th , we had a Brotherhood Event at some- what-nearby Los Angeles Gun Club, a shooting range, to which about 15 brothers attended. Having shot many guns before (cue the ghetto/ gangster jokes), I felt right at home pretending I was Denzel Washington in Man On Fire minus the a suit. I got to pair up with Daniel Rios, a.k.a. Mr. Call of Duty, and we rented a Beretta Px4 Storm – the .45 caliber version. Our neighbors, Megan and Kirsten rented the 9mm counterpart of our gun and we ended up trading guns a few times. Needless to say, the .45 sent vibrations up our forearms as the recoil left our pistol pointing skyward after every shot! But the adrenaline is addicting. “ Once you fired one bullet, you wanted to unload the whole magazine! I can honestly say I now understand why people don’t just shoot another person once but at least ten times! The 9mm gun was far more accurate, but felt like a toy in comparison to the potent .45. Nonetheless, it added that tactical feel to it. Holding the nine gun made me imagine myself as a SWAT agent, but the forty five made me feel like a Navy SEAL! BROTHER ARENI SHAHINIAN (PI) DEMONSTRATES GUN SAFETY The most important thing I learned, though, was how good guns make us look. As a result, I took about 100 pictures with my phone of all of my brothers going H.A.M. on the shooting targets! Of course, some of them tried their best but nonetheless missed the target completely, but it was a friendly competition after all! As the Director of Brother- BUT THE ADRENALINE IS ADDICTING. “ hood for the upcoming quarter, I have already determined that this will be one of the Brotherhood Events I will be proposing, so alumni, if you’re interested: join us! P.S. The tacos afterward were icing on the cake! BOTTOM LEFT: KAPI AT THE LA GUN CLUB | RIGHT: BROTHERS KAT DO (TAU), MAURA NUNO (XI), MICHELLE NGUYEN (RHO), AND KATY HO (RHO). SHOW OFF THEIR IMPRESSIVE EFFORTS. 6
- Page 1 and 2: Kappa Alpha PI PHILANTHROPY | BROTH
- Page 3: BY: Areni Shahinian | PI Pledge Cla
- Page 7 and 8: Fraternity Girls, albeit a paradoxi
- Page 9: Congratulations 2012 BY: Brian Spri
Brotherhood<br />
Right to<br />
Bear Arms<br />
BY: Juan Hernandez | RHO Pledge Class<br />
Angelina Jolie, Alicia Keys, Michelle<br />
Rodriguez, Kate Beckinsale, and Mila Kunis;<br />
what do all these women have in common<br />
besides being beautiful actresses?<br />
They look even hotter when they are firing<br />
a gun! So if we use reason, guns are good<br />
for appearances, but also, they are good<br />
for brotherhood! On April 19th , we<br />
had a Brotherhood Event<br />
at some- what-nearby Los Angeles<br />
Gun Club, a shooting range, to which about<br />
15 brothers attended. Having shot many<br />
guns before (cue the ghetto/ gangster<br />
jokes), I felt right at home pretending I was<br />
Denzel Washington in Man On Fire minus the<br />
a suit.<br />
I got to pair up with Daniel Rios, a.k.a.<br />
Mr. Call of Duty, and we rented a Beretta Px4<br />
Storm – the .45 caliber version. Our neighbors,<br />
Megan and Kirsten rented the 9mm<br />
counterpart of our gun and we ended up<br />
trading guns a few times. Needless to say,<br />
the .45 sent vibrations up our forearms as the<br />
recoil left our pistol pointing skyward after<br />
every shot! But the adrenaline is addicting.<br />
“ Once you fired one bullet, you wanted to<br />
unload the whole magazine! I can honestly<br />
say I now understand why people don’t just<br />
shoot another person once but at least ten<br />
times! The 9mm gun was far more accurate,<br />
but felt like a toy in comparison to the potent<br />
.45. Nonetheless, it added that tactical<br />
feel to it. Holding the nine gun made<br />
me imagine myself as a SWAT agent, but the<br />
forty five made me feel like a Navy SEAL!<br />
BROTHER ARENI SHAHINIAN (<strong>PI</strong>) DEMONSTRATES GUN SAFETY<br />
The most important thing I learned, though,<br />
was how good guns make us look. As a result,<br />
I took about 100 pictures with my phone<br />
of all of my brothers going H.A.M. on the<br />
shooting targets! Of course, some of them<br />
tried their best but nonetheless missed the<br />
target completely, but it was a friendly competition<br />
after all! As the Director of Brother-<br />
BUT THE ADRENALINE IS ADDICTING.<br />
“<br />
hood for the upcoming quarter, I have already<br />
determined that this will be one of<br />
the Brotherhood Events I will be proposing,<br />
so alumni, if you’re interested: join us!<br />
P.S. The tacos afterward were icing on the<br />
cake!<br />
BOTTOM LEFT: KA<strong>PI</strong> AT THE LA GUN CLUB | RIGHT: BROTHERS KAT DO (TAU), MAURA NUNO (XI), MICHELLE NGUYEN (RHO), AND KATY HO (RHO).<br />
SHOW OFF THEIR IMPRESSIVE EFFORTS.<br />
6
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